Bow guide



Feb. 16, 1965 Filed July 9. 1964 ROY L. BELCHER INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent a BOW GUIDE Roy L. Belcher, Seattle, Wash. (5416 88th St. SW.,'Everett, Wash.) 7 Filed July 9, 1964, Ser. No. 381,435 7 7 Claims. (Cl. 84-283) The present invention relates to a bow guiding attachment for use by beginning students on violins and other bowed string musical instruments to prevent the student from inadvertently sweeping the strings over the fingerboard rather than between the fingerboard and the bridge.

As its principal object theinvention aims to provide a simple, inexpensive such attachment which can be quickly installed, adjusted and removed without modification of the musical instrument, and without danger of damaging or marn'ng the soundboard, fingerboard or other parts of the instrument.

Other more particular objects and advantages of the invention will, with the foregoing, appear and be understood in the course of the following description and claims, the invention consisting in the novel construction and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter de scribed and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bow guide embodying the present invention, such being shown in a relaxed storage state; 7

FIG. 2 [is a perspective view illustrating part of the installation procedure for the bow guide; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the bow guide in operative position.

Referring to the drawings it is seen that the illustrated embodiment of the invention is formed of arsingle length of wire having one of its ends at the top of a stop post and its other end upturned as one of a pair of opposed clamping jaws 11-12. These jaws are yieldingly urged toward one another by a coil spring 3 from which diverging branches 14-15 extend to form a pair of clampreleasing wings 18-19 at right-angle elbows 16-17, respectively. These wings comprise respective doubled back portions of the wire having upturned closed loops 20-21 at the wing tips to serve as thumb and finger grips. Crossing arms 22-23 respectively interconnect the inner ends of the wings 18-19 with the jaws 11-12.

Jaw 12 extends as an upstanding open loop between the arm 23 and a return arm 24 which generally parallels the arm 23 for about half the length of the latter. Then the return arm 24 bends away from the-spring 13 at approximately a right angle elbow 25 to form a reach the general direction of the spring 13and is preferably covered by a bow-protective sleeve or coating 10a as of plastic or neoprene which may be applied by a dipping process. Similarly, the tip of the jaw 11, and the central portion of the jaw loop 12 are bent overto-ward one another and may be coated with a fingerboardrprotective' coatings Directing attention to FIGURES 2 and 3, shown in phantom therein is a string instrument having its fingerboard and bridge denoted 30 and 31. e To install the bow guideit is first manually gripped at the spring 13 and tilted so that the tipyof the stop post 10 can be passed" beneath the violin strings between the, fingerboardand jaws 10-11 will still be outward of the strings.

7 means Patented F eb.v '1 6, 1965 ice URE 2 to bring the stop post up between the middle strings. At this point the grip 20 will normally be be neath the cantilevered end of the finger board and. both The manual grip is then shifted from the spring 13 to the tip of the wing 18, and the guide is shifted further to move the spring beneath the fingerboard and expose the grip 21 at the opposite side of the strings. At this point the grips 20-21 are grasped between the thumb and fore- 7 finger and squeezed toward one another suificiently in opposition to the spring loop 13 tospread. the jaws 11-12 apart in excess of i the width of the fingerboard. Following this the guide is shifted away from the bridge 31 to locate-the jaws opposite the longitudinal side edges of thefingerboard whereupon the squeeze pressure on the grips 20-21 is carefully released so that the grips clamp the guide onto the fingerboard as shown in FIGURE 3 withthe guide post 10 projecting upwardly between the bridge and the end of the fingerboard at the desired bow stopping position. When thus in position the guide post preventsthe violin student from moving the bow'any closer to the fingerboard than the post. p

The location of the guide post relative to the fingerboard oan be readily shifted merely by manually squeezing together the grips 20-21 to release the jaws 11-12, bodily moving the device lengthwise of the violin to relocate the guide post, and then releasing the pressure on the grips. Removal of the guide for storage is easily accomplished merely by reversing the aforedescribed application procedure.

As alternatives to providing the stop post 10 as a rigid continuation of the reach 26, it should be understood that the post can be pivo-tally mounted on the reach to swing between a vertical operating position and a generally horizontal storage position, or that the post can be detachablyconnected to the reach in any suitable manner.

It is thought that the invention will have been clearly understood from the foregoing detailed description. Changes in the details of construction will suggest themselves and may be resorted to Without departing from the spirit of the invention, wherefore it is my intention that no limitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claims be given a scope fully commensurate with the broadest interpretation to which the employed language admits. f

What I claim is: a i 1. A bow guide for a bowed string musical instrument comprising, a clamping means having a spring and two opposed jaws yieldingly urged toward another by said spring, said jaws being adapted to grip the opposite longitudinal side edges of a fingerboard on such an instrument with said spring located beneath the fingerboard, said clamping means also having a pair of oppositely extendingclamp-releasing wings located between said jaws and said spring for projecting laterally beyond the longitudinal side edges of the fingerboard whereby said jaws may bespread apart by manually squeezing the tips of said wings toward one another, and a stop post carried by one of said jaws to project upwardly above the level of the strings between thefingerboard and the bridge.

2. The bow guide ofclaim 1 in which a reach extends from one of said jaws to extend beyond the fingerboard, said stop post being mounted on said reach. 1

3. The bow guide of claim 2 in which said reach extends toward the related bridge of the instrument tolocate said stop post between the fingerboard and the bridge.

4. A bow guide for a bowed string musicalinst'rurnent comprising, a length of wire formed intermediate its ends with a spring having its ends branching. outwardly to a pair of oppositely extending clamp-releasing wings, said wire doubling back at the tips of said wings to one end of respective of crossed arms having jaws formed at their other end, a return arm extending from one of said jaws, the other jaw terminating at one end of the wire, a reach extending at cross-angles from said return arm, said spring, wings, crossed arms, return arm, and reach being generally in the same plane, and a stop post projecting from said reach away from said plane and terminating at the other end of the wire, said jaws being adapted to grip the opposite longitudinal side edges of a fingerboard on such an instrument with said spring located beneath the fingerboard, said wings projecting laterally beyond said longitudinal side edges, said reach extending beyond the fingerboard toward the related bridge, and said stop post projecting upwardly above the level of the strings between the fingerboard and bridge.

5. The bow guide of claim 4 in which each of said wings has a gripping loop formed at its tip and bent away from said plane.

6. The bow guide of claim 4 in which said stop post has a protective covering.

7. A bow guide for a bowed string musical instrument comprising a spring, a pair of oppositely extending clampreleasing wings connected to the ends of said spring, crossed arms extending inwardly from connections with said wings, opposed jaws mounted on said arms, a reach interconnected with one of said jaws and projecting away from said spring, and projecting bow guide means carried by said reach, said jaws being adapted to grip the opposite longitudinal side edges of a fingerboard on such an instrument with said spring located beneath the fingerboard, said wings projecting laterally beyond said longitudinal side edges, said reach extending beyond the fingerboard toward the related bridge, and said bow guide means projecting upwardly above the level of the strings between the fingerboard and bridge.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS LEO SMILOW, Primary Examiner. 

1. A BOW GUIDE FOR A BOWED STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COMPRISING, A CLAMPING MEANS HAVING A SPRING AND TWO OPPOSED JAWS YIELDINGLY URGED TOWARD ANOTHER BY SAID SPRING, SAID JAWS BEING ADAPTED TO GRIP THE OPPOSITE LONGITUDINAL SIDE EDGES OF A FINGERBOARD ON SUCH AN INSTRUMENT WITH SAID SPRING LOCATED BENEATH THE FINGERBOARD, SAID CLAMPING MEANS ALSO HAVING A PAIR OF OPPOSITELY EXTENDING CLAMP-RELEASING WINGS LOCATED BETWEEN SAID JAWS AND SAID SPRING FOR PROJECTING LATERALLY BEYOND THE LONGITUDINAL SIDE EDGES OF THE FINGERBOARD WHEREBY SAID JAWS MAY BE SPREAD APART BY MANUALLY SQUEEZING THE TIPS OF SAID WINGS TOWARD ONE ANOTHER, AND A STOP POST CARRIED BY ONE OF SAID JAWS TO PROTECT UPWARDLY ABOVE THE LEVEL OF THE STRINGS BETWEEN THE FINGERBOARD AND THE BRIDGE. 